Four excellent country artists stuck in purgatory between old and new country

As opposed to genres like rock, country music has its own unique sound. The 1-4-5 chord progression is the root for most tracks. While rock can be anything from Led Zeppelin to Duran Duran, country doesn't have the exact same capability to swing. But if done correctly, it doesn't need to.

Still, there is a definite difference between pre-1980s country and the music people hear today. Sure, Beyonce has dabbled in the genre, but she won't stick there. Morgan Wallen and Tim McGraw will.

Some of the musical artists who made their bones in country music - or country-adjacent - in the 1980s and 1990s have been basically stuck between Willie Nelson and McGraw. They are worthy of still listening to, though. Here are four of those artists.

Four country artists stuck in 1980s and 1990s purgatory

Alabama

Alabama was the quintessential 1980s country band. They seemingly owed as much of their roots to the Allman Brothers as they did Hank Williams, but there was no way anyone would have called them rock. Sure, they borrowed elements, but the group never overstepped their sonic limitations. After all, get too loud as a country band and you suddenly become rock stars.

Alabama was enormous for more than a decade and all of their traditional studio albums between 1981's Feels So Right and 1989's Southern Star hit number one on the Country Albums chart. The records were driven by their unbelievably catchy singles such as "Dixieland Delight" and "Song of the South."

The band still has a good following, of course, but they don't currently have the instant respect as when someone mentions Merle Haggard or Willie Nelson. They might never again get that kind of acclaim. Alabama was country, but their sound might not have been country enough.

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam is an interesting artist because his early music is very traditional country and he buys fully into it. The trick was that Yoakam was actually a fantastic guitar player and there was always a hint that he could go full rockabilly if he wanted. In many ways, tonally he is closer to Brian Setzer than Johnny Cash.

The man from Kentucky also didn't play the game the way most record companies would have wanted him to. He wanted to not simply be a country singer. From an early part of his career, he wanted to act as well and played an important part in Billy Bob Thornton's 1996 film, Sling Blade. He also did not present himself as a traditional country singer and his brooding persona was more of the post-punk world.

Still, he could churn out gems such as "Guitars, Cadillacs" and "I Sang Dixie." His last album, Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars..., was released in 2016.

Lyle Lovett

Lovett is in many ways akin to Yoakam only their music is stylistically different. While both can turn out country-style songs, ultimately Yoakam's tends more toward traditional country while Lovett's leans more toward Americana and jazz. In fact, if there was a Big Band country group, Lovett would likely be its spiritual leader.

Lovett's wry sense of humor also did not make it easy for him to consistently reach the top of the country charts. While many fans of the genre might like to see themselves as religion and country first, Lovett would release songs such as "God Will" that included lyrics such as,

"When you're through running around
And who keeps on loving you
When you've been lying
Saying things ain't what they seem
God does
But I don't
God will
But I won't
And that's the difference
Between God and me"

Some might find that sacrilegious, others might rightfully find Lovett's biting humor hilarious. Either way, he is probably fine with it.

Clint Black

Black might be the most perplexing of the artists on this list. He is very much more honky-tonk than the others, even Yoakam. The Houston native made songs that sounded undeniably country and at first, his popularity rivaled a young Garth Brooks. Rightfully so as Black's first album, Killin' Time, was absolute brilliance with one winner after another. The record was released in 1989, the same year as Brooks' self-titled debut.

Brooks' popularity kept expanding, however, while Blacks' remained stagnant. Black still released a number of number-one singles after his debut record but no album matched the full glory of their first.

In 2001, Black made a decision to take several years off from making music and be a stay-at-home dad. This mostly killed his career and Black has admitted to the same. He also has said he would not trade what he did for anything as his family time was more valuable to him.

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